Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628

Incremental sheet metal forming on CNC milling machine-tool

J. Kopac ∗ , Z. Kampus
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract

Incremental sheet metal forming is a promising process providing a short and inexpensive way of forming products having a relatively
simple but interesting shape. The paper presents the process controlled by CNC milling machine-tool together with CAD/CAM Master Cam
system and a smooth forming tool. With experimental testing and measurements the limits of forming without a full-size model were defined.
By using a simple full-size model and the concept where the sheet metal can move vertically in the clamping device, better results and products
were obtained.
© 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Incremental forming; Sheet metal forming; CNC machine; CAD/CAM; Limits of forming

1. Introduction
For sheet forming a number of different forming proce-
dures have been used. In the past, sheet forming was per-
formed on special rolls by means of which a certain shape
was created. This process is called sheet metal rolling, but
with this process only simple shapes can be obtained, thus
it was necessary to search for new solutions for sheet metal
forming. Developments went in the direction of looking for
new shapes of rolls, in this way reaching new dimensions
of forming. However, in today’s fierce competition in the in-
dustrial world, there is a demand for more and more complex
products. In order to meet the requirements, attempts have
been made to stretch sheet metal on special models so that a
desired final shape would be reached. To meet the demands
of high-volume production which requires shorts production
times and lower manufacturing costs, industry started to form
sheet metal on presses. However, a disadvantage of pressing
was that for every product it was necessary to make a special
tool, on which sheet metal was formed. The costs of making
tools are very high, resulting also in higher costs of prod-
ucts. Thus forming on presses can be appropriate only for
high-volume production. Because industry keeps producing
new products all the time, there is also a constant need to
develop prototypes. Prototypes are made in order to try out
a new part or its functionality. So, different processes have
been started where forming was performed without the tool
or with a supporting tool that was cheaper than the real tools.
This is how the development of the procedure of incremen-
tal sheet forming has been started. This process is performed
on a CNC milling machine-tool with CAD/CAM computers
support.
Instead of a mill tool we use a tool which has a small ball
in the end and with this tool we can form the sheet metal
that is rigidly fixed. In the contact between the ball and the
sheet metal the forming process is going on. First our team
tried to perform a simple forming operation without a sup-
porting tool, but only simple forms could be produced. Then
the process was improved by using a supporting tool with a
simple form, and sheet metal was formed on it. As a parallel
development, the team has also started testing the forming
process using a water jet.
2. Some concepts of incremental forming
2.1. Pushing

∗ Corresponding author. This is a process in which the sheet metal rotates together
E-mail address: janez.kopac@fs.uni-lj.si (J. Kopac). with the spindle (Fig. 1). The tool which has a forming disc at

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2005.02.160
 J. Kopac, Z. Kampus / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628
Fig. 1. Pushing.
its end forms the sheet metal from the centre outwards. The
process is appropriate for round products only.
2.2. Forming by impression
This is a process where the tool is stamped into the sheet
metal which is clamped on its circumference [4]. The forming
tool has a simple shape with a ball at its end. The tool travels
over a definite distance forming the sheet metal to a final form
(Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Forming with impression.
623
2.3. Process of incremental sheet metal forming
This is a process where sheet metal is formed with a small
force and no press is needed. A piece of sheet metal it’s
chucked all around with a special chuck (Fig. 3). The tool
is guided with an NC computer program, which defines the
trajectory along which the tool should move. The trajectory
along which the tool should move is defined directly from a
model made in CAD. Tool can also rotate which causes local
deformation and the creation of a desired shape by deepening
the sheet metal.
Since the process has not been thoroughly tested, we first
tested only soft materials and only later tried to test materials
with much better mechanical properties. A lot of this depends
on the machine-tool having to withstand the loads used in
forming.
By incremental forming of flat surfaces the sheet metal
material flows in the direction of the tool movement (ϕ1,
ϕ2 = 0). At curved sheet metal the corners of the material
also deform biaxial (ϕ1, ϕ2 ). The assessment of sheet metal
formability is founded on plane stress state presumption, i.e.
that fracture and local deformations are dependent only on
deformations in the sheet metal plane (ϕ1, ϕ2 ). Fracture curve,
plotted in yield surface curves plot is valid only for specific
type and thickness of the material. It is evident that at incre-
mental sheet metal forming, yield surface curve is a straight
Fig. 3. Process of incremental forming (a, b).
624 J. Kopac, Z. Kampus / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628
Fig. 4. Graph of boundary deformations vales; (a) usually sheet metal form-
ing and (b) incremental sheet metal forming.
line with negative incline and is higher than the usual sheet
metal forming yield surface curves (Fig. 4). Therefore, in-
cremental sheet metal forming enables larger deformations.
The formability of incremental sheet metal forming can be
expressed in a scalar value (ϕ1 + ϕ2 ) [5].
3. Experimental set-up
3.1. Mechanism
Forming is performed with a supporting tool [6] (Fig. 5),
where the sheet metal is chucked in a frame which can be
moved vertically. Under the frame there is a model, which
has to be made so that the tool moves along the model and in
Fig. 5. Sketch of process with a supporting tool (model).
Fig. 6. Mechanism with a supporting tool (model).
this way forms the sheet metal. The model (supporting tool)
may have an intermediate or final shape.
At our tests we used a mechanism shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
3.2. Tool and trajectory
In first tests, tools with a rounded end had been used
[1–4,6]. Soon afterwards these tools were added a small ball
from hardened steel. The diameters of this small ball are not
standardized, because the process has not yet been tested and
so different producers use different tools. The small balls usu-
ally have diameters ranging from 25, 17.5, 11.8, 10. . . mm.
For finding an optimum tool more testing will be needed, be-
cause the diameter of these small balls depends on the form
of the product, kind of material, and the depth to which the
small ball is impressed into the material in one movement.
The trajectory along which the tool moves is essential for
successful production [1]. For this reason different processes
have been developed of which two should be mentioned: a
 J. Kopac, Z. Kampus / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628 625

Fig. 7. Process with a supporting tool (model).

step-by step process moving outwards and a continuous pro-

cess moving inwards.
In the first process the starting point (in the centre of the
shape) is defined first. Then forming is started from this
point. Because in this process the middle point has to be
crossed two times there is a risk of getting an asymmet-
rical product (Fig. 8 upper). Another problem is that after
finishing the forming process, the depth is not the desired
one. Fig. 8. On the upper the tool moved step-by step outwards, on the lower
In the second process a point on the edge of the desired continuously inwards.
shape is determined, and then the tool moves in the direction
of the centre of the shape without interruption (Fig. 8, lower). 3.4. Parameters
In this way the shape is deepened step-by-step.
Because no central modification of the shape is in- From available literature it was evident that we need lu-
volved, a smoother and finer shape is formed. The exper- brication between forming. For this reason, tests were made
imental testing has shown that in the second process the with lubricated and non-lubricated type of forming.
shape obtained by forming is finer and closer to the desired For both tests, the same parameters were chosen:
one.
• The sheet metal was square-chucked with inner sides of
the clamping square 62 mm × 62 mm.
3.3. Machine-tool • The sheet-metal plate subjected to forming measured
60 mm × 60 mm.
Tests were made on a CNC milling machine-tool Mori • Depth of forming 5 mm.
Seiki which has the following characteristics (Table 1): • Diameter of the small ball 10 mm.
• Standard parameters on the machine-tool
• Method of forming: only along the outer edge.
Table 1 • Lubricant: lithium grease.
Characteristics of machine-tool
Fast movement X,Y axis 20 m/min; Z axis 12 m/min 3.5. Experimental procedure
Feed rate X,Y,Z axis from 1 to 5000 mm/min
Clamping system MAS BT-40
Number of tools in stock 20 The sheet metal in the form of a square was chucked,
Positioning 0.005 mm and a computer program for forming was made. In the first
Repeatability of positioning 0.001 mm test no lubrication was applied and the forming was started
Control FANUC MSC-521 Three-Axis posi- on the inner edge of the chucked sheet metal. In the sec-
tioning and linear interpolation, two-
axis circular interpolation
ond test, lithium grease was put on the sheet metal before
forming.
626 J. Kopac, Z. Kampus / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628
Fig. 9. Forming with lubrication.
From the figure we can see that the surface is smoother
when the forming surface was lubricated with grease (Fig. 9),
whereas without grease (Fig. 10) it was rough and the alu-
minium plate did not form into a nice shape and the entire
surface was picked. Some torn pieces have been indented into
the base material so that damage occurred also on the bottom
side. The forming zone on the bottom side is marked by un-
evenness because in this zone the material changed its own
structure. If the depth of forming were increased, it would
come to material failure.
On the basis of these tests, we decided that all further tests
would be carried out with greasing as only this would lead to
useful results.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Comparison between different kinds of sheet metal
clamping for different final shapes
These tests have shown that with one type of clamp-
ing it is not possible to make different final shapes. They
have also shown that it is not possible to make complex
shapes without a model along which the forming is carried
out.
Fig. 10. Forming without lubrication.
Fig. 11. Square clamping of base material and formation of a square shape.
4.1.1. Testing procedure
The sheet metal was square-clamped and forming was
started. The sheet metal was greased in all three tests de-
scribed below. In the first test, the forming was performed
first along the inner edge of the clamping frame, and then the
sheet metal was taken out and exchanged for a new one. In
second test, the aim was to form a cylindrical shape on the
square-shaped clamping frame, and in the third test, the sheet
metal was being formed into a square shape 20 mm × 20 mm
located in the centre of clamped sheet metal.
4.1.2. Results
From Fig. 11 it is evident that we can easily form a
square shape at square clamping, however the distance from
the clamping edge should be minimal. From the second test
(Fig. 12) it is evident that a round final shape cannot easily be
formed with square clamping because the material is pulled
on the edges where the distance from the edge of clamping
is largest. In the third test (Fig. 13) the material got the final
shape of a square which however, is far from the desirable
shape [8]. This leads to the conclusion that if forming is per-
formed without a model, the shape that is obtained, would is
fine only if it is the same as that of the clamping. For example:
if the clamping of sheet metal is square shaped, then we can
make only a final shape in the form of a square. But even with
this we have to be careful that the forming zone is as close
Fig. 12. Square clamping of base material and formation of a round shape.
 J. Kopac, Z. Kampus / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628
Fig. 13. Squared clamping of base material and formation of a square shape.
to the clamping edge as possible, otherwise the sheet metal
might deflect. From this we can see that for more complex
shapes it is necessary to make a model for forming. However,
there is still a danger of material failure on the edges.
4.2. Comparison between reached depth and type of
forming procedure
From the experiments testing the type of forming proce-
dure (A, B, C, D) we could observe that in the first test (A) a
very fine forming surface is obtained, but the achieved depth
of forming is smaller. In the second test (B) we almost got
the final shape of the product, but in the last movement of
the tool the material failed on two locations. In the third test
(C), similarly as in the first, the material failed before the final
shape was reached. Only the fourth test (D) gave good results
and the desired shape was obtained.
From these tests follows (Fig. 14) that an optimal depth
can be achieved only in the forming procedure starting in the
centre and then returning to the initial position and restarting
from the interior into exterior. Since this process has proved
as the most appropriate, we carried all further tests using it.
However, this procedure is appropriate only for symmetrical
forms. For more complex shapes it would be difficult to define
Fig. 14. Reached depth vs. type of forming procedure: (A) forming from
exterior into interior; (B) forming from interior into exterior; (C) forming
first in the centre then from exterior into interior; (D) forming first in the
centre then from interior into exterior.
627
Fig. 15. Depth of forming vs. angles of forming.
the starting path of forming and the material could be formed
into an asymmetrical shape, which could lead to tearing [7].
4.3. Comparison between different angles of forming
The bar chart made on the basis of testing (Fig. 15) clearly
shows that the depth grows in proportion to the increasing
angle of forming. This has been confirmed by the choice
of angles for testing. Using bigger angles in testing would
not make much sense, because already at an angle 45◦ the
expected results were achieved. From these tests we can con-
clude that in forming it is important to take a bigger angle or
a bigger thickness of the base material, since only in this way
we can ensure suitable conditions for forming. With these
tests it was possible to define a limit up to which forms can
be performed so that the products have the desired shape and
no damage is caused by forming.
5. Conclusion
Implementation of the technological process of incremen-
tal sheet metal forming is intended for rationalization of small
batch production. Using it, the time necessary for prototype
making can be shortened. For this purpose a number of form-
ing processes are commonly known such as mechanical strik-
ing, impressing, water jet and a more recently developed guid-
ing of the forming tool on CNC machine tool along the sheet
metal until the desired shape is reached.
The forming tool that has proved successful has a small
ball with a diameter of 10 mm, and grease should be used
as lubricant to improve tribological characteristics. On alu-
minium sheet metal with a thickness 1 mm, tests have shown
that the selection of the clamping mode on the machine-tool
worktable is important. Forming closest to the clamping edge
is important as well, and the shape of the clamping frame
should be the same as that of the product (round, square,
rectangular).
Another important strategy is the motion of the forming
tool along sheet metal surface. The movement of the tool
starting in the centre of sheet metal and then restarting from
the initial depth from the interior into exterior has a priority.
Optimal inclination of walls on the product are 45◦ , bigger
angles may cause errors, cracks, and product failure, which
has been shown in this paper.
628 J. Kopac, Z. Kampus / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 162–163 (2005) 622–628
To achieve higher product quality, a model can be put un-
der the sheet metal as a supporting tool on the basis of which
more demanding shapes can be reached. This means more
work but it is not time-consuming and expensive because the
model can be made on the same CNC milling machine tool
with low surface roughness required. The forming conditions
become much worse if, instead of aluminium sheet metal,
steel sheet metal is used for the product. In the case when
steel sheet metal has to be used it is recommendable that this
is highly deformable and subjected at minimum hardening
with respect to previous deformation.
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